Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay is an 1840 historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper. The novel is set in 15th-century Europe, and follows the preparations and expedition of Christopher Columbus westward to the new world.[1]
Archival materials
editA full manuscript of the novel is held at the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia.[2]
Contemporary reception
editThe New York Review of Books reviewed the novel in 1840 and was unimpressed, saying the novel was not contributing to "any great increase of fame or fortune to Mr Cooper".[3] The review continued to describe the novel as not including much "romance", instead successfully focusing on the historical elements.[3] In 1978, critic Kennedy Williams, Jr. agreed with the assessment, noting that the novel uses history well and accurately, but is Cooper's best example of the combination of history and fiction when "fail[ing] miserably" in Cooper's novels.[4]
References
edit- ^ Walker, Warren S. (1978). Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay (1840) Plot summary. Hamden, CT: Archon Books. pp. 100–111 – via James Fenimore Cooper Society.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "The Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature". University of Virginia. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ a b Lambert Lilly, ed. (1841). "Mercedes of Castile, or the Voyage to Cathay". The New York Review. George Dearborn & Company. p. 271.
- ^ Williams, Jr., Kennedy (1978). George A. Test (ed.). Cooper's Use of American History. James Fenimore Cooper: His Country and His Art, or Getting Under Way. State University of New York College at Oneonta and Cooperstown, New York. pp. 15–25.
Further reading
edit- Goodfellow, Donald M. (Nov 1940). "The Sources of Mercedes of Castile". American Literature. 12 (3). Duke University Press: 318–328. doi:10.2307/2921031. JSTOR 2921031.
- Klibbe, Lawrence H. (1984). "La Vision de Espana en la Novela de Cooper, Mercedes of Castile" (PDF). AIH. X.
- Madison, Robert D. (1984). George A. Test (ed.). Cooper's Columbus. James Fenimore Cooper: His Country and His Art, Papers. State University of New York College – Oneonta and Cooperstown. pp. 75–85.
- Harthorn, Stephen P. (2004). Truth and Consequences: James Fenimore Cooper on Scott, Columbus, Bumppo, and Professional Authorship. Cooper Panel of the Conference of the American Literature Association in San Francisco, California – via James Fenimore Cooper Society.
External links
edit- Mercedes of Castile at Project Gutenberg
- Mercedes of Castile; or, The Voyage to Cathay (1840) Plot summary from the James Fenimore Cooper Society
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